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<h1 itemprop="name headline "><big><big><big>St Louis protests:
Ferguson activists reject religious leaders’ platitudes</big></big></big></h1>
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data-component="Article:standfirst_cta"><big><big><big>Younger
black generation rails at ineffectiveness of peaceful
tactics as day of mass civil disobedience begins across
city</big></big></big></div>
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<div class="contributor-full"><big><big><big> <span
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itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span
itemprop="name"><a class="contributor"
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href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/chrismcgreal">Chris
McGreal</a></span></span> in St Louis </big></big></big></div>
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<li class="publication"><big><big><big> <a
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datetime="2014-10-13T03:47EDT" pubdate="">Monday 13
October 2014 03.47 EDT</time> </big></big></big></li>
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<div class="flexible-content"><big><big><big> </big></big></big>
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class="block"><big><big><big> </big></big></big>
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data-media-id="gu-fc-ee3317c6-4df7-45d8-b30a-07ee95b58c98"><big><big><big>
<img src="cid:part4.05090905.00000200@comcast.net"
alt="Cornel West speaks in St Louis"
class="gu-image" height="276" width="460"> </big></big></big><figcaption><big><big><big>
<span class="element-image__caption">Cornel West
said the older generation 'has been too obsessed
with being successful rather than being faithful
to a cause'. Photograph: James
Cooper/Demotix/Corbis</span> </big></big></big></figcaption><big><big><big>
</big></big></big></figure>
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<div class="flexible-content-body" data-display-hint=""><big><big><big>
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<p><big><big><big>Frustration and anger among young black
Americans at an older generation’s apparent failure to
adequately respond to the killing of Michael Brown by a
white police officer in Ferguson upended a key event at
a weekend of mass protest on Sunday.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>The showdown exposed a generational divide
over how best to confront police racism, brutality and
use of excessive force as organisers of the <a
href="http://fergusonoctober.com/" title="">“weekend
of resistance”</a>, which has drawn activists from
across the US, plan to stage mass civil disobedience
across St Louis on Monday.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>While older civil rights leaders hark back to
the more peaceful methods of half a century ago, some
younger people question their effectiveness today and
are pressing for more confrontational tactics.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>The fuse was lit when hundreds of people who
came to hear the intellectual and activist Cornel West
speak were subjected to speeches by a succession of
preachers from the major religions offering essentially
the same message about loving one’s fellow man and
standing up against injustice. The meeting was billed as
being “in the tradition of the civil rights movement”
but the tone was in part governed by the venue for the
meeting, St Louis University, a Catholic institution.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Some in the audience grew restless and then
angered at the series of reverends, imams and rabbis
until a small group of activists demanded to speak. They
were supported by chants of “let them be heard” and
“this is what democracy looks like”, a rallying cry at
protests over Brown’s shooting.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Tef Poe, a St Louis rapper and activist for
Hands Up United, a campaign group seeking racial justice
in Ferguson, took the microphone and noted that the
Christian, Jewish and Muslim preachers on the stage were
not the people on the street trying to protect people
from the police.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“The people who want to break down racism from
a philosophical level, y’all didn’t show up,” he said to
loud cheers.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>At that point, the planned programme fell
apart and the focus shifted. Some younger black speakers
demanded to know whether the people on the stage had a
plan of action.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“All those speeches before, you’ve heard them
all before. That’s not going to change, right?” said
one. “I was hoping for a plan from our elders and I was
disappointed,” said another.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>A young man used more graphic language. “I’ve
been out there since motherfucking August 9,” he told
the various preachers. “If you don’t turn up at the
protest get the fuck out of here.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>By then some had already left the stage,
although it was not clear if it was because they were
unhappy at the turn of events or to make space.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In the midst of this, a lone white man in the
audience caused uproar when he shouted that African
Americans should not underestimate white people’s “gift
to you”. The man had to be escorted from the arena.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>West did not disappoint the audience, telling
listeners that an older generation of African Americans
had failed them.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“The older generation has been too well
adjusted to injustice to listen to the younger
generation. The older generation has been too obsessed
with being successful rather than being faithful to a
cause that was zeroing in on the plight of the poor and
working people,” he said. “Thank God the awakening is
setting in. And any time the awakening sets in it gets a
little messy.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>A little later he drew loud cheers as he
sharpened his argument. “What our young people are also
upset about is that they understand that too many of our
black middle class brothers and sisters have been
‘reniggerised’. All you’ve got to do is give big
positions, give them some status, give them a little
money, but walking around they’re still intimidated,
they don’t want to tell the truth about the situation.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>One of the earlier speakers, Reverend Traci
Blackmon, touched on a similar theme.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“We have been fooled all these years into
thinking that when a few get through the doors all is
well. Our generation has been guilty of confusing access
with ownership,” she said.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Not all the earlier speakers were unwelcome.
Hedy Epstein, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor who was
part of the kindertransport to Britain, told how she
arrived in the US in 1948 and was taken aback by racial
segregation where she was living in the south. Epstein
was arrested in August after joining a protest over
Brown’s killing and is awaiting trial for “failure to
disperse”.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>But the meeting appeared to mark a watershed
as protest organisers prepared for what is billed as a
day of civil disobedience on Monday, modelled on “Moral
Monday” demonstrations launched over political policies
in North Carolina, by training volunteers in passive
resistance and what to do if they are arrested. Churches
ran a “faith in action mobilizing training” session on
Sunday afternoon that included the occupation of a
police station. At other sessions, volunteers were
instructed in blocking traffic and sit down resistance.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Organisers of the “Weekend of Resistance” have
kept their plans for Monday to themselves but say they
will alert activists to actions at short notice by text
message, Twitter and other social media.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>At the end of the mass meeting, one of the
young people who had taken over the stage called on
people to join a protest vigil at the site where St
Louis police last week shot another 18 year-old black
man, Vonderrit Myers. The police said Myers shot at an
officer who attempted to stop him for a “pedestrian
check”. His family say he was unarmed.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>As the protesters gathered and debated how
confrontational to be with the police, Myers’s father
appeared and told them: “Whatever it is y’all want to
do, I’m fine with it”. Demonstrators began blocking
roads in the area.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big> </big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In the early hours of Sunday morning, dozens
of activists attempted to occupy a convenience store in
support of Myers. The police arrested 17 people for
unlawful assembly.</big></big></big></p>
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